Good Times Bad Times
by meretricis
Summary: In the outside world, signs are showing that dark times are approaching. Inside the Hogwarts bubble, students try to live unconcerned with the future, despite the dark news that reaches in. Remus, James, Sirius and Peter make their way through 5th year.


Disclaimer: Whatever you recognize is obviously J.K Rowling's. Enjoy!

Chapter 1 – Good Times Bad Times

Peter Pettigrew cleared the kitchen table, in disbelief that the summer was over. The whole damn summer was over and he had nothing to show for it. No wild and crazy stories to share, no money earned from a summer job, nothing. He placed the remaining dishes in the sink so his mother could use a quick spell to wash them later. He was angry she wouldn't let him use magic. Most kids from wizarding families could during the summer, since the ministry couldn't tell if it was an underage wizard or the parent performing the spell. But not his parents.

_James' parents let him do magic outside of school, _Peter thought angrily_. James' parents let him do bloody anything. Sirius' too._

Peter was still furious at his parents for refusing to allow him to go to James' for a week over the summer. When he had first proposed the idea, his mother was nervous about him being away, especially during these times. However, his father had almost talked her into it before they discovered James' parents would be away during the week. His parents were so angry about the lie that he was not allowed to go for a few days to visit when James' parents were home. He supposed he shouldn't be too upset, he knew Remus wasn't able to visit either.

_That was because of the full moon, not evil, don't-care-if-I-have-friends-or-not parents, _Peter reminded himself.

Peter saw his father preoccupied with a book in the living room and quickly snuck up the steps to his room to avoid a conversation. When he entered his room, he saw an owl waiting on his desk. He immediately recognized the barn owl as Bartimus, Samantha's owl. Peter thought it was a pretty dumb name for an owl, but he liked Sam and hoped she liked him. They had been writing to each other all summer, after being introduced at the end of last year. He had met her through Sirius' girlfriend Emily.

Emily was a pretty, blonde Hufflepuff girl Peter had had a crush on for ages. That crush ended when Sirius came into their dorm late one Thursday evening announcing she had just given him head in a broom closet on the second floor. Peter couldn't help but be jealous of Sirius. Sirius still seemed oblivious of the attention he was beginning to receive from the female population at Hogwarts, and acted like any broom closet dalliance was some kind of unexpected accident.

He looked at the letter on the desk. He knew Sam liked him though he couldn't discern how much. He picked the letter off his desk and gave Bartimus a stale cracker from a box on his desk before he flew off. Opening the letter, he began to read.

Dear Peter,

It was so great seeing you in Diagon Alley! I hope this letter reaches you before you leave for school. I know we'll see each other soon, I just wanted to send one more out before the summer ends. It's nice to know that someone else out there had a boring summer. I feel like everyone I talk to has done something really exciting. I know a few people went to James' for that party a few weeks ago. Is it true that Ellie Fenwick was attacked by an alligator? That's all I keep hearing about. I didn't want to ask you about it in front of James, didn't want him to think I was nosy, you understand right? I know Emily wished she was there, she feels like she's barely talked to Sirius this summer. I guess he's not as good as writing letters as you are.

Can't wait to see you, look for me on the train!

Samantha

Peter smiled to himself as he read the letter, until he got to the part about James' party. Ellie Fenwick was there, and he knew that she wasn't exactly attacked by an alligator. He hadn't gotten the entire story from James and Sirius when he finally saw them in Diagon Alley, but from what they had told him, Sirius and Ellie had gotten drunk together, gone off somewhere to do something that wasn't clear in the story, and James created a diversion in the form of an alligator to prevent other Hogwarts students from noticing. Unfortunately, in his inebriated state, James forgot about the alligator until the following morning, when it startled Sirius during his morning piss.

He also knew that Sirius didn't write Emily much this summer because he had taken up with a Muggle girl during most of the summer when he was home, along with Ellie when he was at James'. Peter had thought those incidents would have cured Sirius of his oblivion, and yet he continued to run through girls, unaware of his charm. However, Sirius also seemed oblivious to the relationship Emily decided they were in, so Peter tried to avoid those topics of conversation to Sam, unsure of his lying ability.

_But who cares_, Peter thought to himself. _She can't wait to see me! She told me to look for her!_

Peter quickly began to pack up his suitcase, something he had promised to do days ago. He was always excited to return to Hogwarts, but he had never been so excited for the Hogwarts Express. Finally, while the four of them were sitting around talking about their summers, he would have something exciting to share.

Sirius Black sat on the floor of his room with his back leaning against the wall. The clock on his wall told him he had only ten minutes until whatever social function his parents were attending began. Ten minutes until his dear parents and brother left this god-awful house to mingle with the elite purebloods of the wizarding world.

Sirius sat up and walked over to his cluttered desk, grabbing a pack of cigarettes. Lighting one, he flopped down on his bed and stared at the large Gryffindor banner overhead. He had hung it up at the beginning of the summer. His parents made no comment about it, they had stopped coming to his room after his third year at Hogwarts. Even Kreacher, his family's house elf, had been told to stop cleaning his room. It was just one more way the Black family shut him out of their lives.

In all public appearances, Sirius seemed to simply disappear from his family. Although his placement into Gryffindor was initially tolerated, as reports came home of his friendship with those of less desirable status, Sirius became a source of shame for the family name. In private, his father stopped speaking to him, while his mother constantly berated him for failing the family. In public, the Blacks made few comments about his absence to their friends, people understood enough not to ask. Those who did were met with a short, "He's doing well, unfortunately he could not attend tonight" and a quick change in subject. The Blacks had hoped that by slowly pushing Sirius out of the public eye of their social circle, the embarrassment of having raised a blood traitor son would be lessened.

Sirius took advantage of their behavior to the best of his ability. His parents no longer cared what he did, as long as it did not attract public embarrassment, so he began to spend less and less time in number 12, Grimmauld Place. This was also helpful in avoiding contact with his family. As the summer progressed, certain members of his family had become more and more aggressive in their intolerance of him.

Compared to previous summers, this one had been the best of his life. He often left the house in the evening, meeting up with Muggles his own age. He met most of them through Jessica, a Muggle girl he had been hooking up with for much of the summer. He had gotten lost in the Muggle part of London one day, and wandered into the cafe where she worked. Although he just asked her for directions back to his street, he soon found himself making out with her in the walk in fridge in the back room. She seemed interested in him, even though Sirius found her family's television more interesting. However after a close call in his room, and a terrible explanation about why he had a pet owl, he had broken that off.

By far, the best part of his summer was when he left his prison of a home and went to live with the Potter's for nearly a whole month. James' house was a few miles outside of a wizarding town, surrounded by countryside. With a few other wizarding families in the area, it was an ideal spot for pickup Quidditch matches. For the last week of his stay, Mr. and Mrs. Potter had left to visit Mrs. Potter's sister. During that time, Sirius and James transformed the living room into a tropical paradise, threw a massive party for the Hogwarts students in the area, and at one point hid in a closet from a chair transformed into an alligator.

More importantly, Sirius had also hooked up with Ellie Fenwick, a fellow Gryffindor Quidditch teammate. The two had met when she, Sirius and James were made Chasers in second year. The three stayed friends despite Sirius being switched to Beater and Ellie to Seeker. Although the two had maintained a rather flirtatious friendship, neither had ever pursued anything before. Sirius wasn't sure if it was seeing her in a bikini almost everyday or the incredibly sexy way she smoked while on a broomstick, but he soon started making the effort to get into her pants. It was one that was quickly returned, in James' parents' bathroom, while a raging party was going on downstairs. Since then he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.

After the best four weeks Sirius had experienced outside of Hogwarts, his parents sent an owl saying they expected him home the next day. According to Regulus, it had taken them two and a half weeks to notice he had not been home, and decided it would look bad if he turned up dead somewhere in London.

Sirius laughed to himself as he thought about the look on his mother's face when he got back. He hadn't even stepped out of the fire when she began shouting at him because the Lestrange's saw him with the Potter family at dinner in London and now people continued to gossip about Sirius emancipating himself from the family.

Sirius flicked his now finished cigarette up into the air, quickly grabbed his wand and turned the cigarette into dust before it hit the ground. Smiling to himself, having finally perfected that little maneuver, he looked over at his trunk, awaiting the trip tomorrow.

"Why the fuck am I here?" he said aloud to himself. Tomorrow he was leaving for Hogwarts. He knew his parents expected him to go by Floo with them to the Lestrange's, who lived near Kings Cross, to show he had not run away to live with blood traitors. That was a meeting Sirius was not looking forward to. The Lestrange's, especially their sons, believed in a much more active and violent hatred of non-purebloods and blood traitors, a category that Sirius fell into.

"Fuck it."

"Fuck what?"

Sirius turned and saw Regulus standing in his doorway. Regulus' eyes quickly darted to the Gryffindor banner over the bed, and then back to Sirius.

"What do you want?" Sirius asked harshly.

"Uh…" Regulus paused, unsure of how to continue. "Can I bum a fag?" Regulus quickly blurted out, desperately trying not to break his brother's stare.

Sirius was surprised at the amicable request, but decided to just go with it.

"Aren't you a bit young to be smoking?" Sirius half teased, reaching for his pack and tossing it at Regulus' chest.

"Oh fuck off, like you can talk. You used to nab father's flask of fire whisky when you twelve."

Regulus stuck a cigarette into his mouth and looked dumbfounded at the matches wedged in the pack. Instead, he whipped his wand out of his pocket and lit the cigarette. As he did this, Sirius stared at him. This was one of those rare moments, usually occurring in the summer, when Regulus was angry with their parents. During these moments the two of them almost felt like brothers again. As much as the two hated each other at school, when Regulus was away from other Slytherins, things seemed different. Sirius reached into his nightstand and pulled out a flask.

"Not his, but the fire whisky's just the same," he said, unscrewing the top and taking a swig. Regulus walked into his room, and pulled the desk chair closer to the bed and sat down. Sirius handed the flask to him and he took a long gulp. He made a face after swallowing and returned the flask to Sirius.

"Well that'll make tonight more enjoyable" Regulus remarked.

"I see your wearing the Black family dress robes…what's the occasion?" Sirius took another cigarette, and lit it with the matches.

"Uhhh…" Regulus stared at the matches, fascinated by what Sirius had just done. Then, he remembered himself. "Someone's wedding. Rosier maybe? All I know is to turn up in dress robes."

Sirius stood up, walked over to his dresser and pulled out a half empty bottle of fire whisky. He uncapped it and poured some into the flask until it was completely full.

"What are you doing?" as Regulus.

Sirius turned to him and handed the flask.

"Here. It's going to be boring as fuck. Might as well enjoy yourself."

"Uh, thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Regulus got to his feet and the two stared at each other.

"Well, I –"

Regulus was interrupted by their mother's shriek.

"Regulus, get down here this instant, I will not be kept waiting."

The two boys shared a look. Earlier in life it would have been laughter. Regulus shook his head slightly as if to clear it of thoughts and stuck the flask in his pocket.

"So, I guess I'll see you when we get back." Regulus said awkwardly.

"Yeah." Sirius replied.

Regulus turned and began to leave the room.

_Fuck it_, Sirius thought.

"Hey Reg? I won't be here. Gonna take off a night early." _Fuck fuck, why did I tell him_. "So yeah, I'll see you on the train." Sirius continued, hoping to sound nonchalant.

Regulus paused for a moment.

"Alright."

He then grabbed another cigarette and stuck it in his pocket, turned and walked down the hall.

Moments later Sirius heard the sound of the fire whooshing as Regulus and his mother left. Seconds after, a sudden POP told him his father had gone. With that, Sirius threw the last few items into his trunk, lugged it down the stairs and out of number 12, Grimmauld Place, slamming the door behind him. The night was young, and he knew there were plenty of interesting situations he could find himself in the middle of.

Remus Lupin sat on his bed, leaning against the wall next to his window. His window was wide open, and if he peered his head out he could see the sun setting just over the woods by his house. Propped up against his knees was that day's issue of the Daily Prophet. As soon as he opened it he wished he hadn't. Staring him right back in the face were the words PROPOSED WEREWOLF LEGISLATION. However, he could not stop himself from reading. As he read about the proposed restrictions to be placed on werewolves, his stomach began to knot. He knew Dumbledore would do everything in his power to prevent such legislation from getting passed, he had told Remus that much. But how much power could Dumbledore have? He certainly had connections in the Ministry, excellent connections, but it would take more than that.

_Besides, he has better things to worry about,_ Remus reminded himself.

He counted five stories in the Daily Prophet about missing people, all presumed to be connected to one wizard, Lord Voldemort. It seemed like so long ago he had first heard that name, but it couldn't have been more than three years. Now, almost every time he read about a missing person, that name was mentioned. However, it seemed like Voldemort's followers were growing. He had recently found out from Sirius that his cousin, Bellatrix, was officially made a member of Voldemort's inner circle that summer. Sirius said that they had used the term "Death Eater". Although Remus had yet to see this term used in the Daily Prophet, it had been confirmed that his number of followers was growing.

Remus sighed and looked up from his paper. Across the room sat his trunk, already packed. It had been for days. Although he enjoyed being home for the summer and seeing his parents, he couldn't help but feel guilty for the pain he put them through. While at home, his transformations were torturous for his parents. They had to lock him in the basement and listen to him howl all night. His mother always tried to make him feel better the next morning. She would cook him a huge breakfast of whatever he wanted and let him sleep all day. His father tried to avoid eye contact during this time, silently helping out where ever he could to make up for the guilt. Remus knew they were trying to make him feel better, and he appreciated their efforts, but it only made him feel like more of a freak.

Not like his transformations at Hogwarts. During the school year, it was a just a night he couldn't hang out with his friends because of his "furry little problem". He knew his friends worried about him, and they tried to make things easier on him around the time of the full moon, but they weren't overbearing. They also didn't pity him. Instead, they joked about it just as much as they did anything about Peter, James or Sirius. It made him feel almost normal.

Although Remus had wished he could have gone to James' for that transformation, he knew James' home was not set up for it, and he wasn't sure what Mr. and Mrs. Potter knew. However, Remus' parents did allow him to visit for two nights while James' parents were out. The three of them had decided not to tell Peter about that, seeing as he was already upset enough about not being able to visit.

Remus looked out his window; it was almost dark. He stood up and began to check under his bed, in his closet and behind his desk to make sure he had gotten everything. While he was looking, he heard a tap at his window. He looked out and saw an unfamiliar owl holding a letter in her talons. He opened the window and she flew inside, dropping the letter in front of Remus and settling on his bedpost. Remus opened the letter and was immediately greeted by the James' handwriting scrawled on the envelope,

PLEASE FEED HOOTERS BEFORE SHE ATTACKS YOU

Remus glanced over at the owl, which he assumed to be Hooters. She was looking quite menacingly at him, and he suddenly became very aware of how sharp her talons were. Remus began to look around his room for food. Hooters ruffled her wings and now staring at him intently. Remus frantically started looking for something to give the owl. He finally saw a box of cookies near his nightstand, turned his back on her to grab them and then-

"ARG!" Remus shouted. He felt Hooters talons on his back, and her beak pecking into his arm. Remus began to shake his body around, attempting to throw the owl off.

"Get off, get off you crazy-"

Hooters flew off of him, stuck her beak in the box of cookies and flew out the window with a cookie in her beak.

"Crazy bird." Remus muttered to himself.

"Remus?" his mother called out behind his closed door.

Remus opened the door to his concerned looking mother. She had the same sandy hair as Remus, and was about 6 inches shorter than him.

"You alright dear? I thought I heard shouting."

"No mum, I'm fine. Just James' new owl." He said rubbing his arm.

"Oh alright." She paused, and gave Remus a concerned look. "Well I'm making pancakes down stairs, thought we could have a breakfast for dinner! Your favorite!"

"Great, thanks mum. I'll be right down after I read James' letter."

"Okay dear." His mother said smiling. She left his room, softly closing his door.

Remus knew she was concerned about him going back to school. It had always made her uncomfortable that he underwent transformations while there. Although she was ecstatic about him being able to attend Hogwarts, she still worried.

Remus turned and picked up James' letter. He sat on his bed and began to read.

Hello mate!

Even though I'll be seeing you tomorrow, thought I should sum up what we decided we shouldn't mention to Pete. Forgot to discuss this when you came round, but we don't need Pete getting all upset and refusing to take part in our first big adventure of the school year. Which will be legendary, so I'm expecting even a Prefect like you participate. Oh, and congrats on being made Prefect. Seriously, I'll give you shit for it all the time, but that's fantastic. Any idea who the girl is? Anyway, no mentioning that you came round. And anything involving Sirius and Ellie. Pete knows too much as it is, and we don't need Pete mentioning that to Sam and having Emily finding out and hexing Sirius so bad it gets in the way of Quidditch practice. You know what a bad liar he is. Don't worry friend, I've already told Sirius several times that he's being an arse and should break up with her already. However, he is still under the impression that they broke up at the end of last year. Oh speaking, well writing, of things Pete can't find out about, probably shouldn't mention this letter. I'd just burn it. Or shred it and eat the remains! Or leave it at home, but the first two sound more exciting.

See you tomorrow,

James

(Sorry about Hooters, I tried to warn you.)

While reading James' letter, Remus laughed. He had received many letters from James like this, clearly following the track of James' mind, and not necessarily a logical order. Many of his letters this summer had the margins filled up with Sirius' own commentary. Sirius was not one to send letters over the summer.

Part of Remus felt bad about not telling Peter that he had visited the two boys. It shouldn't have been a big deal, but he knew Peter had been furious at his parents for not allowing him to go. Remus couldn't blame Peter's parents; he was surprised the Potters had thought it was a good idea leaving James and Sirius with the house to themselves. When Remus arrived for the last two nights the Potters had been away, the house was in shambles.

The Potter's living room was completely unrecognizable. In the place of the grand, French doors leading into the living room, there was a waterfall one had to walk through. Although an impressive amount of water appeared to be falling over the eight-foot falls, Remus only felt a slight mist when he walked through. The rest of the living room remained much of the tropical paradise the two young men had transformed it into. Large couches and chairs had been transfigured into impressive boulders surrounding a small pool the waterfall emptied into. It was quite beautiful, and Remus was incredibly impressed with the magic used; however the waterfall had begun to soak the surrounding carpet and ceiling.

The rest of the house remained the same, except it was trashed with empty cups and bottles. The kitchen appeared like several food fights had taken place, the dining room table looked like some kind of creature had been gnawing at it, and the entire house smelled of beer, weed and cigarettes. Remus spent most of his visit having a fantastic time with James and Sirius attempting to transfigure everything back to the way it was and to remove the water stains from the living room ceiling. As the three worked, James maintained the idea that things couldn't look too clean, or else his parents would be suspicious. When Remus asked what had inspired the impressive amount of transfiguration taking place, he did not get a clear answer, both claiming boredom, drunkenness and a dare at various times.

Remus then took the letter and stuck it in the bottom drawer of his desk. Seeing as he usually didn't have his friends from school visit his home, he saw no need to eat the contents. _And I have pancakes waiting to be eaten_, he thought, and quickly bounded out his room and down the steps to the kitchen.

James Potter stood in the middle of his bedroom, quill stuck behind his ear, staring intently at his surroundings. A few feet away lay his trunk, wide open and completely empty. In his hand was a piece on parchment. It was covered with various scribbles, some of it lists, others diagrams even stick figures. In the corner of the parchment were the words DON'T FORGET TO FIND circled, starred and underlined several times. It was this particular phrase that was giving him trouble.

A week earlier James had begun a list of things he needed to remember to pack. Over that week, the list became crowded with short, vague phrases he had scribbled down. Although they made sense at the time, when James began to pack he realized most of the phrases no longer made any sense.

"What the bloody hell am I supposed to find?" James wondered aloud. He must have hidden something somewhere, that much he determined. And with the enthusiasm he had tried to make the phrase stand out, it was clearly important.

_Perhaps something the parents shouldn't see?_ He thought. _Sirius will know._

James instinctively began to look for the two-way mirror he had with Sirius, but then realized he didn't have it. It had been confiscated the year before when James was caught using it to talk to Sirius while in detention.

_Oh fuck, we need those back_. He crouched down with the parchment on the floor and wrote in large letters STEAL THEM BACK and drew a bold square around the words. He then thought of the predicament he was currently in, and wrote in smaller letters, "the mirrors".

Having the mirrors this summer would have made things easier. Sirius had just stumbled out of the fireplace one day around lunchtime with a bag. His owl arrived about an hour later, asking if it would be okay for him to stay for a bit. James' parents were more than thrilled to have Sirius there, and told him he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted. James was happy his parents had accepted Sirius into their family as quickly as James had.

And what an amazing time the two had had. A few days before Sirius arrived, James' father had a friend from Hogwarts over. The friend, Martin Marchbanks, as James excitedly learned over dinner, was an Animagi. James made no effort to cover up his fascination. For all of dinner he stole the conversation away from others by engaging Marchbanks in an animated discussion of the process and troubles he went through when reaching this status. James was so excited he immediately wanted to write to Sirius, but was afraid to put that in a letter in case a parent found it. However, only two days later Sirius turned up.

From what James understood about his conversation with Mr. Marchbanks, he and Sirius, and with them Peter, were doing well in their attempt to become Animagi. Not that he mentioned he had an actual plan, Mr. Marchbanks and his parents believed it to all be a harmless curiosity. It seemed that he simply needed to become a more powerful wizard, especially when it came to transfiguration. Marchbanks remarked that he used to transfigure everything in sight to keep that part of his mind sharp while he was preparing to make the first transformation into his animal. He had also confirmed what the boys were trying to convince Remus of; werewolves were no danger to Animagi.

When Sirius came to visit, they set out to transform everything they could. And, James could say rather proudly, they had gotten quite advanced. He couldn't think of any other student in their year, or probably at Hogwarts, who could do the type of transfiguration the two of them could. While his parents slept, the boys transfigured everything in James' room and back again.

During those late nights, Sirius mentioned to James that he didn't think he would be living at Grimmauld Place much longer. His mother was becoming unbearable. Sirius could barely leave his room without her yelling or throwing a hex his way. And as various family members began to officially join Voldemort's ranks, Sirius' blood traitorous ways were becoming less and less ignored and more a topic of discussion.

However these talks only took place during their late night transfiguration sessions. During the day, they were zooming over the countryside on their broomsticks, often accompanied by James' neighbor and fellow Gryffindor Quidditch teammate, Ellie Fenwick. The three had met when they joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team as chasers in their second year. Sirius and Ellie now played Beater and Seeker respectively, while James remained a chaser. Along with Ellie's older brother Benji, a seventh year and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and several of his friends, they spent their days playing Quidditch and their nights hanging around Ellie's or James' house, depending on the presence of parents.

James sat on his bedroom floor, reminiscing about the summer, staring blankly at the parchment in his hand. His trip to Spain with his parents. Sirius coming to stay with them for nearly a month. Accidentally walking in on Sirius and Ellie taking each other's virginity in his parents' empty tub. Locking Sirius and himself in his father's den, because the two of them were too hung over to transfigure the alligator back into an armchair. James snapped himself out of the daze.

"The den!" he exclaimed to himself.

_Of course_, he thought, _the bloody book about becoming an Animagi!_

While Sirius and James were stuck in the den, the two had found a book in James' fathers' library, devoted to the complications in the final stage of becoming an Animagi and how to avoid them. It also contained a section explaining why Animagi were able to approach werewolves safely. Although the two were hung over, and stoned if James remembered correctly, the book appeared to be informative. However, they had tossed it back in the bookcase when the alligator began to break in, and were unable to find the book when they returned later.

James stood up. He glanced at the clock. It was 11:30 at night. His parents would be asleep.

_Just a quick look around should be fine._

He grabbed his invisibility cloak, not that he'd really need it, and crept out of his room and down the steps. Once down stairs, he walked over to his dad's den and opened the door. The Potter's weren't the type to keep doors locked in the house, but he knew it would be difficult to explain what he was doing in the den in the middle of the night.

"_Lumos_", James muttered, raising his wand and glancing around the room. He knew that Sirius had shoved the book back into one of the bookcases near his dad's desk, but had no idea where it could be. James realized now that he didn't even remember the title. However, he knew that this book would be important in their attempts at becoming Animagi. There were hundreds of books in this room. It could take all night, but James was determined to have this book packed away in his trunk.


End file.
